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Sing Rāga, Embody Bhāva: the Way of Being Rasa

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Sing Rāga, Embody Bhāva: the Way of Being Rasa SING RĀGA, EMBODY BHĀVA: THE WAY OF BEING RASA Thanmayee Holalkere Krishnamurthy, B.E. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2019 APPROVED: Steven Friedson, Major Professor Vivek Virani, Committee Member Catherine Ragland, Committee Member Felix Olschofka, Interim Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Music John W. Richmond, Dean of the College of Music Victor Prybutok, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Holalkere Krishnamurthy, Thanmayee. Sing Rāga, Embody Bhāva: The Way of Being Rasa. Master of Arts (Music), May 2019, 88 pp., 1 table, 7 figures, 10 musical examples, references, 94 titles. The rasa theory of Indian aesthetics is concerned with the nature of the genesis of emotions and their corresponding experiences, as well as the condition of being in and experiencing the aesthetic world. According to the Indian aesthetic theory, rasa (“juice” or “essence,” something that is savored, that is tasted) is an embodied aesthetic experienced through an artistic performance. In this thesis, I have investigated how the aesthetics of rasa philosophy account for creative presence and its experiences in Karnatik vocal performances. Beyond the facets of grammar, Karnatik rāga performance signifies a deeper ontological meaning as a way to experience rasa, idiomatically termed as rāga-rasa by South Indian rāga practitioners. A vocal performance of a rāga ideally depends on a singer’s embodied experience of rāga and rāga-bhāva (emotive expression of rāga), as much as it does on his/her theoretical knowledge and skillset of a rāga’s svaras (scale degrees), gamakas (ornamentation), lakṣhaṇās (emblematic phrases), and so on. Reflecting on my own experience of being a Karnatik student and performer for the last two decades, participant observation, interviews, and analysis of Indian aesthetic theory of rasa, I propose a way of understanding that to sing rā ga is to embody bhā va opening the space that brings rasa into being. Reflecting on the epistemology of rā ga theory, particularly its smaller entities of svaras and gamakas, and through a phenomenological description of the process through which a vocalist embodies rāga (including how a guru transmits this musical embodiment to his shishya [disciple]), I argue that the notion of rā ga-rasa itself has agency in determining the nature of svaras and its gamakas in a rā ga performance. Additionally, focusing on the relationship between performers and rasikas (drinkers of the juice), this thesis examines how the embodiment of rāga-bhāva and the experience of rasa open the possibility for musicians and audiences to live rāga-rasa in a performance. Copyright 2019 by Thanmayee Holalkere Krishnamurthy ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am immensely grateful to my adviser, guru Dr. Steven Friedson for his long-term support and guidance. Without his patient advice, rigorous criticism and encouragement, I could not have completed this thesis. His scholarship, academic enthusiasm, and dedication have inspired and challenged me to constantly advance in my research. I thank Dr. Catherine Ragland and Dr. Vivek Virani for their constant support and guidance throughout this journey. Their profound knowledge and experience in the field of ethnomusicology and academia have motivated and shaped my perspectives in this research. I am also indebted to Toulouse Graduate School, Graduate Writing Centre, and Dr. Joseph Oppong for their support through thesis and dissertation boot camps. I have been blessed and fortunate to study Karnatik music under my beloved guru, my inspiration Sri. T. M. Krishna. Both directly and indirectly, he has been an immense force and strength in my musical journey. I will always fall short of words to thank him for all that he does: guidance, advice, love and care. I would like to especially acknowledge that his music, guidance and writings have shaped my perspectives on Karnatik music, tradition, rasa philosophy, rāga- rasa and beyond. I have been lucky to have a wonderful group of colleagues and friends. Thank you, José. R. Torres, for all those brainstorming discussions, timely feedback, and constant words of encouragement throughout this process. Thank you, Miguel Espinel Pulgar and Holly Gramlich, for your timely support. Finally, I would like to thank my family—my parents, in-laws, husband, and close family without whose constant support I wouldn’t have been here, doing whatever I am doing. Thank you for always being the best. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.............................................................................................. vi LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ............................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO RASA AND RĀGA-RASA ............................................... 1 1.1 Karnatik Music and Rasa ........................................................................................ 1 1.2 Rasa and Nava-Rasa from Indian Aesthetic Theory ............................................... 4 1.3 Issues and Thesis Statement.................................................................................... 7 1.4 Literature Review.................................................................................................. 10 1.5 Research Design and Methodology ...................................................................... 12 1.6 Organization of the Thesis .................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2. RASA: THE RECIPE AND TASTE OF TRANSCENDENCE IN ART ............. 16 2.1 Origin of Rasa ....................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Rasa in Indian Aesthetics ...................................................................................... 19 2.3 Aesthetic Object of Rasa ....................................................................................... 21 2.4 Receiver-Oriented Theory .................................................................................... 22 2.5 Rasa: A Unity of Subject-Object .......................................................................... 25 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 28 CHAPTER 3. RĀGA-RASA: THE QUEST OF TASTING RĀGA ............................................ 30 3.1 Introduction to Rāga and Its Smaller Entities ....................................................... 34 3.2 Rāga in Theory and Practice ................................................................................. 37 3.3 Rāga as Heard ....................................................................................................... 43 3.4 Singing Rāga ......................................................................................................... 45 3.5 Phenomenology of Rāga-Rasa .............................................................................. 47 A Śiṣya’s Pedagogy .................................................................................. 47 An Artist’s Rāga Journey .......................................................................... 54 3.6 Rāga Ālāpana Analysis ......................................................................................... 56 3.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 58 iv CHAPTER 4. RASA: THE CONFLUENCE OF PERFORMER AND RASIKA ....................... 61 4.1 Rasika .................................................................................................................... 64 4.2 Gestures of Rāga Space ........................................................................................ 65 4.3 Rasa: The Fluid ..................................................................................................... 68 4.4 A Rasika within Performer ................................................................................... 70 4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 73 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION...................................................................................................... 75 5.1 The Rasa Debate ................................................................................................... 76 5.2 Artist and Rasa ...................................................................................................... 78 5.3 Multi-Phenomenology .......................................................................................... 79 5.4 The Ethnographer and the Informant: The Performer and the Rasika .................. 81 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 83 v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Page Tables Table 1.1: The eight sthāyi bhāvas and corresponding rasas. ......................................................... 5 Figures Figure 1.1: Nava rasas depicted in Bharatanāṭyam, one of the classical dance forms of India. (Each row, left to right): ṣṛṅgāra (erotic), hāsya (comic), bhayānaka (fearsome), vīra (heroic), karuṇa (pathos), adbhūta (wondrous), raudra (furious), bhībatsa (disgusting), śānta (peace). Artist: Hamsa Natraj, Source: Photo by Manoj, Hassan, India. ....................................................
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